The SWIG Early Career Researcher Prize is intended to raise awareness of technology development and novel applications related to water measurements and thereby promote innovation in sensor research and commercial application.

SWIG invites students and employees in the field of water sensor research to design a poster summarising their work. This is an opportunity for researchers within the water and environmental sectors to showcase their scientific talents and innovative thinking.

This year there is a £1,200 1st prize, £500 2nd prize and £200 3rd prize.

The competition is open to all ‘early career researchers’ to include undergraduate and postgraduate students either in full time education or within the first 4 years of employment within their area of expertise.

All posters passing to the final judging phase will be printed and displayed at the WWEM 2016 conference and exhibition on 2-3 November, with the top 3 entrants being invited to give a short presentation at WWEM. The winner will be judged on the poster and presentation, and announced at the WWEM Gala Dinner.

The winner of the 2014 prize was Zoe Ayres of the University of Warwick, with her work on a boron-doped diamond sensor for ‘Heavy metal detection in aqueous environments’. Zoe was presented with a trophy and cheque during a prize ceremony at the WWEM gala dinner

Zoe said: "Winning the 2014 SWIG Early Career Researcher Prize was an incredible experience. It has been invaluable to my research, giving me the confidence to promote my work to the wider scientific community. The opportunity to network with such a great range of industry professionals has also created possibilities for collaborative work, as well as allowing me to realise the full potential of water sensing research for a wide range of real-world applications."

Full competition details are available at www.swig.org.uk under ‘News/ECR Poster Competition’ or you can contact rosa.richards@swig.org.uk for further information. Submission of posters and abstracts this year is online via a web portal: www.wwem.uk.com/swig/ The deadline for submissions is Friday 9th September 2016.